Aww! The York Minster peregrine falcon chicks have hatched – and they’re cuties

Meet York Minster’s newest residents.

These four chicks are the second brood hatched to the cathedral’s pair of pedigree falcons.

They have now been weighed and ringed by a team from the Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve.

Lucy Murgatroyd from Natural England said the four chicks were ringed with metal rings issued by the British Trust for Ornithology.

“However, and more importantly, they were also fitted with orange colour-rings with three black letters, which can be read at a distance using binoculars, telescopes or by enlarging photographs,” Lucy said.

“This will allow us and the public, to find out where ‘our’ York Peregrine chicks go to, as they disperse to other breeding territories on their own, as well as helping us to monitor the population and understand their ecology, life span, dispersal and ultimately their conservation.

“As well as producing valuable scientific data we’ll be able to use the ring re-sighting information to further engage visitors to York and York Minster with the story of these amazing birds.

“And it also links the tracking work we carry out on migratory bird populations in the Lower Derwent Valley NNR, one of the UK’s most protected and special landscapes, which is partly in the city of York at Wheldrake.”

For more information on the work of the Lower Derwent Valley & Skipwith Common NNR check out their Twitter feed and Facebook page.